You Would Be In Love
by fictitiousburn
Summary: "If you believed what you felt, you would be in love." Neither of them are happy in their relationships, but are they really happy with each other? (Zuko/Katara) (Zutara Month 2012)


**you would be in love**, a **prompted** drabble compilation  
**warning:** use of coarse language and mildly sexual situations

**relief.  
**When the door is thrown open, Katara pulls away and stands as far as she can from him. All she can do is hope it's not her boyfriend or his girlfriend or their friends. She is more than happy to send the flustered servant away, her heartbeat returning to normal.

**luminous.  
**He always lights the candles before she comes into the room, because he wants to see the contrast in his choice between lovers. She always snuffs the candles out on her way into the room, because only in the dark can she pretend she doesn't know that this is wrong.

**potential.  
**"You should have joined us sooner," she says, half as a joke, half as a wistful thought. He doesn't take offense like she expected he would. "Things were a lot less complicated. Maybe we could have been something great." He shrugs his shoulders. Greatness has always slipped through his fingers.

**change.  
**He always tells Mai that this will be different. He promises that he'll have more time during the week to do things together. When he tries to invite her out for a night between the two of them, she declines. She never really wanted him to be different.

**serenade.  
**She's so intoxicated that she barely remembers the words. "Don't fall in love with the traveling boy," she watches the Avatar, "he'll leave you broke and broken hearted," she laughs and takes a sip out of her goblet. "You should sleep," Zuko takes her cup when she starts to cry.

**desired.  
**"Do you love me?" His hands are pressed against her stomach and he's kissing her against her neck. He mumbles against her shoulder, "no." She tips her head back and her hands are covering his hands, much darker than his pale ones. "But I want this, and I want you."

**pride.  
**"I always knew you'd end up together!" Ty Lee shrieks as she hugs them tightly. Mai scoffs and walks away from them while Zuko tries to smile for both him and his fiancée, trying to hide how wounded he is at her reaction. It definitely shouldn't hurt him this much.

**prejudice.  
**"You don't know anything about Air Nomad philosophy," Siku looks over at Katara with a calm look, but the waterbender is angry. "It doesn't mean I don't deserve him!" The air acolyte tosses her hair over her shoulder as she stands. "No, but you refuse to learn, so you don't."

**sublime.  
**They stand shoulder to shoulder as the sun rises. "I never went to sleep," Katara explains. "I just woke up," Zuko counters. This is the beginning of a tradition between them as the sun pours between their silhouettes and covers them in a warm glow. They cherish this beautiful moment.

**affliction.  
**She wakes up every night crying and clutching her chest. Aang holds her in desperation, to comfort her. She tells him her nightmares are about lightning and he remembers his scar, but she thinks of lightning piercing her chest in a life where Zuko does not exist to save her.

**intimacy.  
**"Don't kiss me," she turns away and he frowns, stepping back. "Did I do something wrong?" His breath catches. "No, I just don't want you to." She slides out of their bed. "Then why are we getting married?!" He shouts at her retreating back. "I don't know, Zuko, for show."

**mistake.  
**"Doing the same thing over and over isn't a mistake, Siku," Aang tells the acolyte, "your brother is hurting you; he means to do it." By that logic, she shouldn't call her nightly rendezvous a mistake, but it makes her feel better to think she doesn't mean to do it.

**festival.  
**Zuko doesn't particularly feel like celebrating his engagement, but he sits at the table entertaining guests anyway. Katara doesn't particularly feel like watching Zuko and Mai, or Aang and Siku, for that matter, but she sits anyway and leans against the Avatar. It isn't a gesture of affection, but of surrender.

**stranger.  
**Aang watches Katara move through her waterbending katas with a fluid mixture of aggressiveness and eloquence that defines her role as a female warrior; graceful yet deadly, never to be underestimated. When she's done, she sinks to her knees with her head on the ground. He doesn't recognize this Katara.

**wonderland.  
**Mai drifts into a daydream during the budget meeting. It's drab and dull and gray, but she's happy. She is single, pining after a Prince, wrapped up in the push and pull of an interesting romance and century long war. Now that the dust is settled, her fantasy is dispelled.

**separate.  
**"I don't want to go back to the Air Temple yet," Katara protests adamantly. "Siku needs to go; she can't go alone!" She scowls, annoyed at the thought of the acolyte. "Then maybe we should go our separate ways!" It's a harmless suggestion, but its true intentions echo between them.

**snow.  
**Katara watches him incredulously. "Zuko, what the hell is that?" He freezes, before pulling his fingers out of his mouth with a 'pop.' "Uh, snow." He hands her a fluffy wad and she puts it in her mouth cautiously; it melts, sweet on her tongue. She holds her hand out with a grin.

**heat.  
**She can feel his hand on her hip like it's on fire. "Zuko, you don't have to hang all over me." Mai slips out of his grasp and walks away brusquely. "That's pretty harsh," Katara laughs behind him, patting him on the shoulder. "Shut up," he hisses back at her.

**stubborn.  
**Katara pulls the sheets to her bare chest. "Why are you dragging this out? Just stop!" His back is to hers, but he answers. "You know I can't." She huffs. "She doesn't even want you. You're both miserable and you deserve better than that!" He shrugs, "do I really, though?"

**demons.  
**Siku represents everything Aang thinks _she_ is supposed to be. She's kind, optimistic, reverent of his ideals, and peaceful. Katara is not. When she looks at the acolyte, it's like a reflected piece of what she was before she was touched by the evils of the world. She hates her.

**traditions.  
**A week before the wedding, the Sages explain to Zuko and Mai that they are to spend a whole week away from each other as per tradition. Zuko has the decency to look incensed by it; Mai has the ghost of a smile on her lips. "This is just great."

**forbidden.  
**"They never said you couldn't share a bed with anyone." Katara lays her head on his shoulder. "Yeah, well, I'm sure it's implied not to cheat on your fiancée before you get married." It's not funny, but Katara laughs. "It's implied that you'll be getting married because she loves you."

**serenity.  
**It's an odd sight for Katara. In the center of the courtyard, Aang and Zuko sit back to back with outstretched palms. Zuko's are radiating fire whilst Aang balances globes of air. Their eyes are closed, their breathing is even, and when she makes a noise, both their hearts race.

**tea.  
**"It's just hot water and leaves," and Zuko thinks Mai is his soulmate. He's been saying this for years! But after they fight, Iroh brings him tea and Zuko drinks it out of spite for her. Then, he knows, Mai simply isn't appreciative of simple things like tea and love.

**light.  
**She makes sure to snuff out her candles so there is no light under her door; that way, no one will come disturb her. She can sulk, toss her knives, and wonder when she became miserable over their relationship, because she used to fall asleep waiting for him by candlelight.

**holiday.  
**Zuko attempts to visit Mai on the Summer Solstice; she slams the door in his face. It's why he looks upset when Aang stumbles upon him firebending in the garden. "My fiancée hates me," he laughs, trailing fire with his foot. This certainly is the longest day of the year.

**similarity.  
**Aang can relate to Zuko's troubles with Mai. He doesn't think Katara hates him, but he knows she is lacking his attention and his love and she resents him slightly for it. He hopes that his relationship doesn't start to mirror the Fire Lord's; he never meant to hurt her.

**atonement.  
**Katara wraps her arms around his waist and presses her cheek against his tattooed back. He's asleep, she can feel his breathing, and he doesn't move when she cries quietly against him. "I'm sorry that I'm such a bad person and that you'll never see it until it's too late."

**steam.  
**"Don't go easy," she brings up a wall of water to trap him but he blasts it apart with a strong burst of fire. She calls up two water whips and starts lashing at his feet; he evaporates them easily with two whips of fire, "I wouldn't dream of it."

**gravity.  
**"We can't do this," her hands are around his neck and he's pulling her into his chambers as discreetly as possible, "I know," he answers. "We shouldn't be doing it now," but her hands are up under his tunic. She can't pull away from him; some force has trapped her.

**eve.  
**This is Mai's chance to back out. This is Zuko's chance to convince her. This is Katara's chance to steal him away. This is Aang's chance to keep her. They all have a decision that is theirs to make the night before the wedding. So what do they all choose?

* * *

**notes:** i have a lot of character arcs as an explanation for why i wrote this the way i did and i briefly want to touch upon it just in case. katara and aang are together, but drawing from issues in _the promise_, aang is starting to find solace with people who want to learn air nomad philosophy and katara feels slighted. zuko and mai isn't canon to that comic series, not anymore, but i honestly wanted to write a different aspect of zutara than most people see, which means zuko wants to try and work things out and mai is just waiting for things to die off. for once, zuko and katara come together out of mutual unhappiness, and not out of hidden feelings for one another.

also, i left it open ended on purpose (mostly so i could come back and maybe write multiple endings?) so you could choose to think what you want about what happened.


End file.
